Modern Foreign Languages - Wilmington Academy

KS3: MYP French and Spanish (Language Aquisition)

Intent

Students in the MYP learn how to research, analyse and communicate information, to explore and develop ideas, find solutions to new problems and evaluate the solutions they produce. These are skills that are useful in further education and any future careers. At its heart, MYP Design is centred upon developing skills in problem solving, one the most important life skills that our students will all be able to apply throughout their own lives.

The value of MYP Design is realised in the way it helps students understand how to apply both practical and creative thinking skills to solve design problems. Encouraging each pupil to explore the role of design in both historical and contemporary contexts, whilst increasing awareness of their responsibilities for the design decisions they make and actions they take.

The objectives of MYP Design are set out as four core Criteria. Each criterion for Design contains four strands; a strand is an aspect or indicator of the learning expectation which students will be assessed on.

Together these objectives reflect the knowledge, skills and learning characteristics that students need in order to apply the design criteria in a variety of contexts, including real-life projects and scenarios, carrying out practical inquiries and communicating their research and design ideas clearly, as well as producing their own solutions and evaluating the success of their outcomes.

For year 7, the Scheme of Work is organised through the use of the NCELP (National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy) scheme of work and resources.

NCELP aims to take forward the recommendations of the ‘Review of MFL Pedagogy’ and support their implementation in schools. They drive, support, and monitor the work of a national collaborative network of Modern Foreign Language teachers and their schools to raise the standards of language teaching through the sharing of resources and good practice. This complements the MYP unit plan organisation and teaching approach to build balanced and well-rounded language students.

The scheme of work is centered on the teaching of vocabulary, grammar and phonics so that students are able to communicate in a variety of contexts. The scheme of work also focuses on increasing cultural awareness.

French Schedule of Learning

Module 1 & 2: Connecting the written and spoken word
Module 3 & 4: Connecting patterns and structures in order to communicate effectively
Module 5 & 6: Connecting patterns and form in order to communicate effectively

Spanish Schedule of Learning

Module 1 & 2: Connecting the written and spoken word
Module 3 & 4: Connecting patterns and structures in order to communicate effectively
Module 5 & 6: Understanding how to choose words in order to effectively communicate

In year 8, the curriculum has been designed to build and develop French/Spanish linguistic knowledge, including vocabulary, grammar and phonics so that they are able to communicate in a variety of contexts. The scheme of work also focuses on increasing cultural awareness.

French Schedule of Learning

Module 1 & 2: Connecting word choice and meaning in order to communicate effectively
Module 3 & 4: Connecting conventions and structure in order to communicate effectively
Module 5 & 6: Connecting patterns and structure in order to communicate effectively

Spanish Schedule of Learning

Module 1 & 2: Making connections between form and patterns in order to communicate effectively in Spanish
Module 3 & 4: Communicating effectively using the correct functions and word choice
Module 5 & 6: Communicating within different contexts

In year 9, the curriculum has been designed to build and develop French/Spanish linguistic knowledge, including vocabulary, grammar and phonics so that they are able to communicate in a variety of contexts. The scheme of work also focuses on increasing cultural awareness.

French Schedule of Learning

Module 1 & 2: Communicating with different audiences
Module 3 & 4: Sharing past experiences
Module 5 & 6: Talking to different types of people

Spanish Schedule of Learning

Module 1 & 2: Discussing ongoing and past experiences
Module 3 & 4: Talking about future plans
Module 5 & 6: Talking about lifestyle

Implementation

At Key Stage 3, unit plans are based on ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum through the use of NCELP scheme of work (non topic based) and the MYP framework. The scheme of work aims to capture the interest of students and motivate and prepare them to have a solid grounding to begin their GCSE journey.

Impact

Throughout their Language Acquisition journey, students are encouraged to not only develop their linguistic knowledge and cultural awareness, but also skills such as problem solving, memorisation techniques, empathy, lateral thinking, risk taking and creativity. These skills enable our students to be prepared for the next stage of their education.

The implementation of the NCELP philosophy places importance on the teaching and learning of phonics, making our students better risk-takers, as they are more confident with the pronunciation of sounds in the foreign language. The teaching methods being used actively encourage the regular use and recycling of the most commonly used words in the foreign language, using the top 2000 words list. This enables our students to become better overall communicators, as they are more able to communicate using everyday vocabulary.

Students will be assessed under four different criteria:

Criterion A: Listening
Criterion B: Reading
Criterion C: Speaking
Criterion D: Writing

All students in year 7 will be placed in phase 1, with the most able students aiming to be moved to phase 2 at the start of year 8, staying there until year 9. At the start of the academic year, most students in year 9 will be placed in phase 1, with a few students being placed in phase 2 of the MYP assessment continuum, depending on assessment data from the end of year 8.

The four MYP criteria will be summatively assessed and reported on twice a year (Modules 3 and 6). A final grade will be provided at the end of the year (Module 6). Further guidance on MYP assessments can be found here:

For more information, please read our assessment recording and reporting cycle.

Additional Resources

KS4: GCSE French (EBacc)

Intent

The intent of the department curriculum is to ensure that all pupils are able to retain vital knowledge and master essential skills. Students are taught to build and develop their French language skills, equipping them with the knowledge to communicate in a variety of contexts. We encourage our students to not only develop their linguistic knowledge, but also skills such as problem solving, memorisation techniques, empathy, lateral thinking, risk taking and creativity. The study of languages should also broaden their horizons and encourage them to step beyond familiar cultural boundaries and develop new ways of seeing the world.

This course should enable students to:

develop their ability to communicate confidently and coherently with native speakers in speech and writing, conveying what they want to say with increasing accuracy
express and develop thoughts and ideas spontaneously and fluently
listen to and understand clearly articulated, standard speech at near normal speed
deepen their knowledge about how language works and enrich their vocabulary to increase their independent use and understanding of extended language in a range of contexts
acquire new knowledge, skills and ways of thinking through the ability to understand and respond to authentic spoken and written material, adapted and abridged, as appropriate, including literary texts
develop awareness and understanding of the culture and identity of the countries and communities where French is spoken
make appropriate links to other areas of the curriculum to enable bilingual and deeper learning, where the language may become a medium for constructing and applying knowledge
develop language learning skills both for immediate use and prepare them for further language study in school, higher education or employment
develop language strategies, including repair strategies

Year 10
Year 11

Schedule of Learning

Module 1: Relationships
Module 2: Free time
Module 3: Technology
Module 4: French customs and festivals
Module 5: Local area
Module 6: Holidays

Schedule of Learning

Module 1: Education and school life
Module 2: Jobs and future plans
Module 2: Healthy living
Module 3: Environment
Module 4: Social and global issues
Module 5: revision

Implementation

Listening

demonstrate general and specific understanding of different types of spoken language
follow and understand clear standard speech using familiar language across a range of specified contexts
identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer spoken passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events
deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer spoken texts, involving some complex language and more abstract material, including short narratives and authentic material addressing a wide range of contemporary and cultural themes
recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in more extended spoken text, including authentic sources, adapted and abridged, as appropriate, by being able to answer questions, extract information, evaluate and draw conclusions.

Speaking

communicate and interact effectively in speech for a variety of purposes across a range of specified contexts
take part in a short conversation, asking and answering questions, and exchanging opinions
convey information and narrate events coherently and confidently, using and adapting language for new purposes
speak spontaneously, responding to unexpected questions, points of view or situations, sustaining communication by using rephrasing or repair strategies, as appropriate
initiate and develop conversations and discussion, producing extended sequences of speech
make appropriate and accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, with reference to past, present and future events
make creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to express and justify their own thoughts and points of view
use accurate pronunciation and intonation to be understood by a native speaker.

Reading

understand and respond to different types of written language
understand general and specific details within texts using high frequency familiar language across a range of contexts
identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer written passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events
deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer written texts from a range of specified contexts, including authentic sources involving some complex language and unfamiliar material, as well as short narratives and authentic material addressing a wide range of relevant contemporary and cultural themes
recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in more extended written text and authentic sources, including some extracts from relevant abridged or adapted literary texts
demonstrate understanding by being able to scan for particular information, organise and present relevant details, draw inferences in context and recognise implicit meaning where appropriate
translate a short passage from French into English.

Writing

communicate effectively in writing for a variety of purposes across a range of specified contexts
write short texts, using simple sentences and familiar language accurately to convey meaning and exchange information
produce clear and coherent text of extended length to present facts and express ideas and opinions appropriately for different purposes and in different settings
make accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, to describe and narrate with reference to past, present and future events
manipulate the language, using and adapting a variety of structures and vocabulary with increasing accuracy and fluency for new purposes, including using appropriate style and register
make independent, creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to note down key points, express and justify individual thoughts and points of view, in order to interest, inform or convince
translate sentences and short texts from English into French to convey key messages accurately and to apply grammatical knowledge of language and structures in context.

Impact

Students will be supported with a number of different types of assessment materials to ensure they reach their full potential in their French GCSE examination.

Assessment

Students will complete a full French mock in November/December and a second one in January/February. We use the following Assessment Objectives:

AO1: Listening – understand and respond to different types of spoken language (25%). This requires students to listen to recordings in French and to answer questions on what they hear. Some of these questions will be multiple-choice and some will need the student to write short answers in English and French.
AO2: Speaking – communicate and interact effectively in speech (25%). In this part of the exam students will do a short role play with the examiner and talk about a photo. They will also talk about two of the topics they have studied.
AO3: Reading – understand and respond to different types of written language (25%).The reading section will give the students passages to read and questions to answer. Some of these questions will be multiple-choice and some will need the students to write short answers in English and French. Passages will be from French sources such as emails, magazines and books. Students will also need to translate sentences or a short passage from French into English.
AO4: Writing – communicate in writing (25%). In the foundation paper students will write about a photo, write a short passage and write a longer passage. In the higher paper students will write longer passages about two topics. At both levels there is also a translation exercise, from English into French.

Students do either all Foundation tier or all Higher tier papers.

For more information, please read our assessment recording and reporting cycle.

Exam Board Information

AQA GCSE (9-1) French Specification

Additional Resources

KS4: GCSE Spanish (EBacc)

Intent

The intent of the department curriculum is to ensure that all pupils are able to retain vital knowledge and master essential skills. Students are taught to build and develop their Spanish language skills, equipping them with the knowledge to communicate in a variety of contexts. We encourage our students to not only develop their linguistic knowledge, but also skills such as problem solving, memorisation techniques, empathy, lateral thinking, risk taking and creativity. The study of languages should also broaden their horizons and encourage them to step beyond familiar cultural boundaries and develop new ways of seeing the world.

This course should enable students to:

develop their ability to communicate confidently and coherently with native speakers in speech and writing, conveying what they want to say with increasing accuracy
express and develop thoughts and ideas spontaneously and fluently
listen to and understand clearly articulated, standard speech at near normal speed
deepen their knowledge about how language works and enrich their vocabulary to increase their independent use and understanding of extended language in a range of contexts
acquire new knowledge, skills and ways of thinking through the ability to understand and respond to authentic spoken and written material, adapted and abridged, as appropriate, including literary texts
develop awareness and understanding of the culture and identity of the countries and communities where Spanish is spoken
make appropriate links to other areas of the curriculum to enable bilingual and deeper learning, where the language may become a medium for constructing and applying knowledge
develop language learning skills both for immediate use and prepare them for further language study in school, higher education or employment
develop language strategies, including repair strategies

Year 10
Year 11

Schedule of Learning

Module 1: Holidays
Module 2: School
Module 3: Technology
Module 4: Relationships
Module 5: Free Time
Module 6: Local area

Schedule of Learning

Module 1: Jobs and Future plans
Module 2: Spanish Festivals and customs
Module 3: Social issues and Environment
Module 4: Healthy Leaving
Module 5: Revision

Implementation

Listening

demonstrate general and specific understanding of different types of spoken language
follow and understand clear standard speech using familiar language across a range of specified contexts
identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer spoken passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events
deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer spoken texts, involving some complex language and more abstract material, including short narratives and authentic material addressing a wide range of contemporary and cultural themes
recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in more extended spoken text, including authentic sources, adapted and abridged, as appropriate, by being able to answer questions, extract information, evaluate and draw conclusions.

Speaking

communicate and interact effectively in speech for a variety of purposes across a range of specified contexts
take part in a short conversation, asking and answering questions, and exchanging opinions
convey information and narrate events coherently and confidently, using and adapting language for new purposes
speak spontaneously, responding to unexpected questions, points of view or situations, sustaining communication by using rephrasing or repair strategies, as appropriate
initiate and develop conversations and discussion, producing extended sequences of speech
make appropriate and accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, with reference to past, present and future events
make creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to express and justify their own thoughts and points of view
use accurate pronunciation and intonation to be understood by a native speaker.

Reading

understand and respond to different types of written language
understand general and specific details within texts using high frequency familiar language across a range of contexts
identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer written passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events
deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer written texts from a range of specified contexts, including authentic sources involving some complex language and unfamiliar material, as well as short narratives and authentic material addressing a wide range of relevant contemporary and cultural themes
recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in more extended written text and authentic sources, including some extracts from relevant abridged or adapted literary texts
demonstrate understanding by being able to scan for particular information, organise and present relevant details, draw inferences in context and recognise implicit meaning where appropriate
translate a short passage from French into English.

Writing

communicate effectively in writing for a variety of purposes across a range of specified contexts
write short texts, using simple sentences and familiar language accurately to convey meaning and exchange information
produce clear and coherent text of extended length to present facts and express ideas and opinions appropriately for different purposes and in different settings
make accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, to describe and narrate with reference to past, present and future events
manipulate the language, using and adapting a variety of structures and vocabulary with increasing accuracy and fluency for new purposes, including using appropriate style and register
make independent, creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to note down key points, express and justify individual thoughts and points of view, in order to interest, inform or convince
translate sentences and short texts from English into French to convey key messages accurately and to apply grammatical knowledge of language and structures in context.

Impact

Students will be supported with a number of different types of assessment materials to ensure they reach their full potential in their Spanish GCSE examination.

Assessment

Students will complete a full Foundation Spanish mock at the end of year 10. We use the following Assessment Objectives:

AO1: Listening – understand and respond to different types of spoken language (25%). This requires students to listen to recordings in Spanish and to answer questions on what they hear. Some of these questions will be multiple-choice and some will need the student to write short answers in English and Spanish.
AO2: Speaking – communicate and interact effectively in speech (25%). In this part of the exam students will do a short role play with the examiner and talk about a photo. They will also talk about two of the topics they have studied.
AO3: Reading – understand and respond to different types of written language (25%).The reading section will give the students passages to read and questions to answer. Some of these questions will be multiple-choice and some will need the students to write short answers in English and Spanish. Passages will be from Spanish/French sources such as emails, magazines and books. Students will also need to translate sentences or a short passage from Spanish into English.
AO4: Writing – communicate in writing (25%). In the foundation paper students will write about a photo, write a short passage and write a longer passage on one of a choice of two topics. In the higher paper students will write longer passages about two topics from a choice of four. At both levels there is also a translation exercise, from English into Spanish.

For more information, please read our assessment recording and reporting cycle.